George Mouzalon
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George Mouzalon was a high official of the Empire of Nicaea under Theodore II Laskaris.
Emperor Theodore II Laskaris (r. 1254–1258), George Mouzalon's friend and patron
Michael Palaiologos, who as leader of the aristocrats orchestrated Mouzalon's murder, facilitating his own rise to the imperial throne
Michael VIII Palaiologos
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Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1261 until his death in 1282, and previously as the co-emperor of the Empire of Nicaea from 1259 to 1261. Michael VIII was the
George Mouzalon
…r. 1258–1261). He was assassinated only a few days later by soldiers, as the result of a conspiracy led by the nobles under the soon-to-be emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282). The Mouzalon family is first attested in the 11th century, but produced few notable members until the mid-13th century, with the exception…
15th-century miniature of Michael VIII, National Library of Russia.
Imperial eagle in Mystras. In 1263 the Latins ceded Mystras as ransom for William II of Villehardouin, and Michael VIII Palaeologus made the city the seat of the new Despotate of Morea, ruled by his relatives.
The restored Byzantine Empire in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911)
Coin of Michael VIII, depicting the Virgin Mary rising over the walls of Constantinople, in commemoration of the capture of the city over the Latins.